Trujillo holds cédula No. 1, and the ID card records "skin color" (Dominican Republic, 1931–1932)
Record: the document says itPattern: documents line upLens: our readingOpen: not yet proven
Year: 1931 · Places: Caribbean
SUMMARYTrujillo holds cédula No. 1, and the ID card records "skin color" (Dominican Republic, 1931–1932) [Connections: Latin America & Caribbean, Nov 5, 2026]
RECORDLaw No. 247, approved 29 December 1931 (Gaceta Oficial No. 4424), created the cédula de identidad. The first card went to Rafael Leónidas Trujillo on 1 January 1932, number 1. The original card's fields included "color de ojos y piel" (eye and skin color). Historians cited by Acento say the document served, underneath its public purpose, "el propósito de control político de la población" (political control of the population). In a 2013 AP report, historian Emilio Cordero Michel recalled that the term "indio" was put on the cédula during the Trujillo dictatorship (1930–1961)
PATTERNA dictator's ID system wrote a color word onto every citizen, assigned by the state
LENS (WW9)The renaming starts with a government form, and the dictator signs first
OPENThe exact decree or regulation that first printed "indio" on the card, and the year, needs deep research in the Gaceta Oficial
SOURCEAcento, "La cédula: su historia y el salto que da en 2026"; Telemetro/AP, 11 Oct 2013. Primary: Ley No. 247 (1931), Gaceta Oficial No. 4424.